Sanctions won't last forever said Medvedev to Rossiya 24 TV station. "These silly sanctions shall pass away and international relations continue as before, and the foreign exchange market will open again" he added.
"We are fair people. If we strike a deal with someone, we stick to it. This applies especially to our Latin American and Asian partners. Those who would like to return to the Russian market after the sanctions end will get what has left. We will not break contract with anyone in favor of our western partners".

"This is the price Europe must pay for the sanctions. As soon as they end, relations return to normal with western companies. However, the market share of our Asian and Latin American partners will remain unchanged in the future" Medvedev added.

Regarding gas shipments in Europe the Russian prime minister said: "We ship 130 to 140 billion cubic meters of gas and 200 million tons of oil to Europe. Now, it is up to Europe if they continue buying our energy sources. If sanctions don't go too far, we stay on the European market."

Medvedev acknowledged that "money market conditions unfavorable for Russian banks, since virtually all possibilities to acquire foreign currency, or to obtain foreign loans are blocked."

This situation encourages us to carry out wide-ranging economic modernization in Russia; the prime minister stressed that the goal is to build a modern Russian economy within ten years:

"We are going to build a brand new economic system not in one or two years, but I'm absolutely sure that we build it within 1O years even in spite of the current sanctions," - said the Russian prime minister.

Russia's objectives remain the same: we are not going to change our ideas, we are not going to cut back on state programs added Medvedev.

As a reminder: On the pretext of invading Ukraine the European Union, the USA and its allies hit Russia with economic sanctions. Responding to the punitive measures Russia banned certain western imports mainly agricultural products from the European Union, the USA and its allies. The effectiveness of the Russian counter-measures confirmed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Western sanctions affected only 5% of the Russian market, which had a beneficial effect on domestic production and the replacement of western suppliers.